Generating Exposure for Your Alpaca Farm with Press Releases

A basic guide to help alpaca farmers use press releases to establish credibility and strengthen online marketing efforts.

A press release is a specially written and formatted document that is intended to provide information to editors and journalists in the hopes that they will carry your newsworthy information in their publication.

Now with online press release submission portals, you can reach your end customers directly, too.

Some benefits of using press releases as part of your marketing strategy for your alpaca farm include:

• Build credibility – even if you have just started out, you can develop a reputation as an active alpaca resource with regular press releases.
  
  

• A professional way to make announcements – news professionals prefer to receive well-written press releases, so you’ll be more likely to gain exposure.
  
  

• Relatively low cost – if you write and distribute them online yourself, you can gain decent exposure for around only $40 per press release (though it will require several hours of your time).
  
  

• Search engine optimization – when optimized for keywords and submitted through online portals, your press release can rank high in the search results for several weeks. As well, news sites will pick up your release and create links to your website, all valuable for SEO.
  
  

• Fresh content for your site – adding press releases to your Farm News section is a great way to add new content regularly.
  
  

Many an alpaca farmer has been able to generate coverage by local news media by submitting press releases to local newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations. Imagine the great exposure if a television station shows up at your next farm event!

Choose Alpaca Press Release Topics that are Newsworthy

So, what topics can be used in a press release? The general rule is that it should be newsworthy. A few examples could be announcements of:

• Establishment of your alpaca farm.
• A seminar at your farm.
• A birth, breeding, sale or purchase of an alpaca.
• Your attendance at an industry show.
• New equipment purchase.
• Farm expansions.
• Hiring of staff.
• Publishing of an article.
• Design or major redesign of farm website.
• Launch of your blog or farm newsletter.

Establish a Regular Schedule for Your Alpaca Press Releases

Press releases help your credibility when you can distribute them regularly. This helps establish you as a valuable resource in the minds of the editors you’re developing a relationship with.

Once a month is probably a good goal when first starting out with press releases. If you can eventually deploy one every week, you will definitely gain a reputation as a very active alpaca rancher.

One way to make sure you never run out of press release topics is to enlist a copywriter to work with you to create a schedule of topics - and write them for you. (You know how easy it is to get caught up in the daily work at your farm, and hiring a copywriter means your press releases won’t be put off for later.)

Ask an alpaca marketing firm like SEOAlpaca.com for assistance in locating a professional – some may offer copywriting resources in-house.

Create a List of Contacts to Send Your Press Release

When you’re seeking to generate local or industry attention for your alpaca farm, make sure you develop contacts with those who report on related news.

This includes lifestyle and business editors at your local newspapers and news desks at local radio and television stations.

In addition, find current editorial contacts at alpaca industry publications and add them to your press release distribution list.

A study conducted by AOBA in 2000 showed that alpaca owners also read national news, lifestyle, and financial magazines such as Country Living, Better Homes & Garden, Wall Street Journal, Money, etc. So do some research online to find the staff editor who would be most interested in covering a story on an alpaca farm and add them to your list as well.

Once you have your press release distribution list, make sure you send your press release properly.

Don’t email attachments, as news professionals are not likely to open them. Instead, paste your press release into the body of an email and send it to each editor individually (or use a service that allows you to distribute to a list). Include the words “press release” plus the headline in the subject of your email.

Your press releases should also be posted on your website in a Farm News section. This way, members of the media will be able to find the press release and relevant information easily on your website if they should want to carry a story on your farm. And your website will also benefit from having fresh content regularly added.

Distribute Your Alpaca Press Releases Online

Internet press release submission portals provide another invaluable resource. When written with proper use of keywords, your press release can even reach top rankings for a month or more in search engines, giving your farm much more visibility online than by simply posting it to your alpaca website.

When various online media outlets pick up your press release from distribution by these portals, you can enjoy links back to your alpaca website from each news site. These links in turn assist in strengthening your website’s SEO efforts.

There are dozens of press release distribution sites, ranging in price from free to hundreds of dollars per release. While the free resources may sound tempting, they often don’t provide the capabilities that will give you the advantages you’re seeking, such as active hyperlinks to your website and distribution to news portals like Yahoo! News.

Two affordable resources that can bring good results are www.prweb.com and www.webwire.com. But feel free to try different sites and gauge results for yourself.

Basics for Writing Your Alpaca Press Release

Press releases follow a standard format, which can be summarized as follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact name and information

Headline communicating the main idea of your press release

City, state, date – first paragraph where you’ll answer the basic questions of who, what, where, why, when, how in a “news voice” (don’t use marketing-type language or hype in your press releases).

Second paragraph provides more details on the above.

The third paragraph is a good place to include a quote from a relevant person.

Fourth and subsequent paragraphs let you provide more details and quotes if appropriate.

A boilerplate paragraph about your alpaca farm follows the announcement details. This “about us” information generally remains the same throughout all your press releases, until you need to update it.

# # #

You might not see some of these elements such as the pound signs signaling the end or the “immediate release” notice when you view press releases online. However, it’s best to include them when you’re emailing editors, as they are generally particular about style and format.

Well, there you have it – a basic guide to using press releases to get more exposure for your alpaca farm. So build a regular press release schedule and then put it into action to see the benefits of a strengthened web presence and improved exposure in the alpaca industry.

If you would like assistance in writing and distributing your press releases, inquire with www.alpaca.com today.

Copyright 2006 SEO Advantage.

About the author: Lisa Banks is marketing director and senior alpaca copywriter at SEO Advantage, a web design and SEO firm serving the Ideal Alpaca Community with SEO Alpaca services since 2000. Learn more about custom alpaca website design and search engine optimization today at www.seoalpaca.com.